It would be great if our Town Council truly valued its staff. But I don’t believe that can be said about the current mayor and council.
Oftentimes, professional direction from the staff just isn't good enough for them. Council thinks they know better. They have them go back to the drawing board too many times. Can you say sign ordinance? Street repairs? Park Place development agreement?
Add to that the deferring and continued discussion about staff raises. Fountain Hills has a hard enough time competing with other towns to attract and retain staff. Our staff are not allowed the public employee retirement benefit through the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS). Is the solution to not pay them a fair wage or provide them with a retirement program, but just dangle a self-funded 401K program for them to pay into instead?
